


All Decisions

by BloodFrost



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), kylux - Fandom
Genre: Boys Kissing, Domestic Fluff, Enforcer of the First Order, Fluff, Gay, General Hux takes care of Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren - Freeform, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren loves General Hux, Kylux - Freeform, Living Together, Love, M/M, Out Of Chatacter, Prisoner Executions, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Kylux, Short Story, Soft Kylux, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - Freeform, The First Order, space boyfriends, supreme leader snoke - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 07:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodFrost/pseuds/BloodFrost
Summary: Kylo Ren has been doing his job as the Enforcer of The First Order for a long time; and he's good at his job.However, lately more and more he finds himself questioning his own motives, and seeking a sense of purpose behind what he's coming to view as senseless killings.((Short, semi-fluffy day-in-the-life story))





	All Decisions

"Why are you hunching like that?"

Kylo Ren was sitting in the office of General Hux. It was early, and he was still rather tired. He looked at the cup of caffe on Hux's desk and made a face. He had been told that caffe was excellent for waking one up in the mornings, but still and all, he couldn't stand the smell.

He was waiting on Hux to give him his assignment for the day, and the cold little chair Hux had sitting outside his desk didn't provide much comfort to Ren's already-sore back. 

"My back hurts. Obviously," he responded tiredly to Hux's question.

Hux punched something into his datapad, then set it back down as he returned to his paperwork.

"Ordered a new bed. Firmer mattress. That should help some."

Ren said nothing, but smiled to himself. Hux was the sort of person where, once he identified a problem, he acted right away to get it taken care of. Ren, on the other hand, probably would have ignored his achy back until he needed a cane to move around.

"Here," said Hux, sliding a thick piece of paper across his desk towards Ren. "Looks like you're going to be busy for a while today."

Once a week, usually in the middle of the week, Ren had a set of executions he was scheduled to perform, in the prisoner control rooms. These were individuals caught committing crimes or treasonous acts against The First Order, or people with whom interrogation and torture no longer held any purpose.

Hux had a group of Officers whose job it was to deign whether a prisoner deserved the death sentence, or not, and to list their crimes alongside their names. They would be brought to Hux, who would then bring them to Snoke for final approval. Those who didn't receive death as a verdict would be turned into forced labor. That was what Ren was reading over now.

The list was particularly long today, the amount of crimes more extensively detailed than usual.

One item caught Ren's eye more than the others, and he did a double-take.

"'Stealing food rations from a First Order stronghold'?", he read from the list, looking up at Hux. "That's it? **That's** what I'm killing him for?"

Hux took the list out of Ren's hand, and read over that particular item with a frown.

"Huh. That _does_ seem a bit like over-kill. Who set the order for that one?", Hux asked, flipping the page over. 

"Lieutenant Leapold. Of course; he was the one on duty during that raid. His pride must be hurt."

Ren scowled. "Is that honestly the type of men you have in your cabinet? Ones that would equate the value of human life to a couple of loaves of bread? Why am I executing a petty thief along with, say, _this_ prisoner," he said, pointing elsewhere on the list, "A man who launched an attack on a village of women and children on one of our ally planets? How are those two things _equal_?"

"Ren--", Hux began, when his Comm began to beep. He answered it; one of his men was summoning him to the training grounds.

Hux stood up and pulled on his overcoat and hat. "Look, I don't have time to discuss this right now, okay? Just--just do your job, and we'll talk about it later, alright?"

Ren nodded, still looking over the list in his hands. Hux sighed and leaned over him, quickly kissing his forehead.

"I'll see you later," he said, pulling open his office door. He stepped one foot out before turning around.

"And Kylo?"

"What?"

"Loves you."

Now Ren did look up, and smiled. "Loves _you_ ," he replied as the door shut behind Hux.

And he did love Hux.

They had been committed to each other for five years, and living together for two. Ren supposed that marriage would be the next logical step, although he knew he wasn't quite ready for that yet. He liked what they had now. Waking up each morning to the usually grumpy redhead was a bright spot for Ren in an otherwise dreary life.

Being the Enforcer of the First Order, as well as Supreme Leader Snoke's apprentice, was not quite an easy task to undertake. Snoke always put pressure on him to be absolutely perfect, in everything he did. Perfectly strong, perfectly fast, perfectly powerful.

And the perfect murderer.

Ren used to be well adapted to the cold, ruthless demeanor that one needed to have in order to carry out Snoke's various commands; but lately, he had been finding it harder and harder to do so.

He found himself sympathizing with those he was forced to torture and/or kill on a daily basis, wanting to grant them mercy rather than the death that was ordained for them.

He hid these misguided feelings from Snoke as best he could; he didn't need to give his Master another reason to be disapproving of him.

Snoke had not been pleased, in the least, when Ren and Hux had confessed that they were in love, and living together. They told him not only because they were tired of living in secret, but because if they hadn't, he would eventually have routed the truth out for himself. 

And that would have been far worse; better for him to hear it from  
their own two mouths.

The only reason he had allowed their relationship to continue was that they had both insisted (and proven) that their being together would not impact or influence the way they approached their individual jobs.

And it hadn't.

In five years, there was never a single time where Hux was late for a meeting, or Ren missed a training session. They continued to focus their energies on The First Order, so Snoke allowed what he thought of as a fleeting love affair to go on.

But, to Ren, there was nothing fleeting about it. He genuinely loved the General, and couldn't picture his life without the redhead in it.

Most people on the base knew that they were together, but nothing much was ever made of it. In fact, if one didn't know the situation, it would have been nearly impossible to know that the two were together. They were hardly ever in the same place at the same time, and when they were, they usually argued with and criticized each other, just the same as always.

They weren't openly demonstrative with one another around other people, either. In five years, the most public physical affection anyone had seen between the two was a day about a year ago, when Kylo Ren returned home from a month-long mission to the Outer Rim territories. He had stepped off his ship, and General Hux had been waiting at the bottom of the ramp, with a smile and a hug. 

That was it. 

A hug.

No kissing, no handholding, no openly flirtatious innuendo.

Behind closed doors was a different story, though.

Neither man seemed to be able to get enough of the other, and it showed. When they were both home, they kissed, caressed, held hands, and cuddled almost constantly. Where one was, the other was never far away.

After years of being alone, being lonely, having this thing with Hux was wonderful. He loved the quiet evenings they spent with each other; cooking, watching holofilms, laying his head in Hux's lap as Hux read to him or talked about his day--

He could not remember a single time in his life when he had felt _this_ happy, _this_ at peace with himself.

Maybe--a little too much at peace.

He couldn't remember having these negative feelings about his duties before getting together with Hux, and that worried him. Snoke used to always preach to him about how love absolutely ruined a dark-sider; how it softened them, weakened them.

Was that what was happening, here?

Was his domestic dalliance with Hux slowly tearing down his tough outer exterior, exposing a soft-hearted, simpering weakling inside?

In actually, the killings that Ren performed were usually rather quick, and somewhat painless.

Ren would go into a cell, accompanied by an officer, usually a Captain. The Captain would read the individual's crimes to them, one at a time, and pronounce that they had been sentenced to death, effective immediately. The Captain would ask if the prisoner had any parting words.

Some tried to plead for mercy, or protest their innocence. Others loudly proclaimed a curse upon The First Order and all those who were a part of it.

But most were silent, some shedding quiet tears, simply closing their eyes and awaiting the inevitable.

And, for the _most_ part, Ren made it very brief. He would merely bring down the blade of his saber on the necks of those in question, swiftly decapitating them.

But in some cases, Snoke wanted certain prisoners to suffer, before they died. If so, his code was a tiny red star by that prisoner's name on the list. The red star meant pain.

The red star meant torture.

So Ren would be made to force-choke, fling through the air and brutally invade the minds of those whose names bore the red star. He had learned early on, on days when he had torturing to uphold, to chose a Captain to go with him that had a strong constitution. Some couldn't handle it; one in particular had spewed the contents of his stomach all over the floor in response to an especially vicious episode. 

Ren was lucky in that he had a helmet to wear, during these times. If the prisoners could get a look at the indecision, the doubt that played over his face, they most likely wouldn't have feared him at all.

Scrolling through the list again on his way down there, Captain Uaslinn following quietly at his side, Ren was relieved that there was just one red star to deal with today. 

On . . . wait, really?

On the bread thief's name.

He made a mental note to visit that particular cell last, as he wanted to  
get to the bottom of it.

Once they got there, Ren took a deep breath, both externally and internally, and prepared to make his rounds.

"Are you ready, Captain?", he asked Uaslinn, and the man nodded dutifully.

So they began.

They started with the first prisoner, opened his cell, and started the routine. Thankfully for Ren there were not many criers today, and nobody struggled or tried to get away from him. 

At the end of the slaughtering, he had the cleaning crew come in and remove the bodies, taking them to be disposed of from the trash airlock. The crew was fast and efficient, and within half an hour the floors were mopped and everything looked just as it had before.

When the bustle calmed down, he told Uaslinn to wait out in the hallway for him as he spoke to one of the names on the list. He watched him go, then turned and went to the cell of the name he had saved for last, located towards the back of the room.

As he got closer, he had to stop and recheck his list. This-- _this_ couldn't really be the prisoner, could it?

He had expected a grown man, probably around his own age, sassy and defiant.

What he found was a scrawny, malnourished-looking woman with stringy brown hair and too-big eyes in a thin face.

She looked at him fearfully as he stood there, but said nothing.

Opening the cell door, the light hit her face, and he saw with some shock that she wasn't even truly a woman, yet. She couldn't have been more than 12 or 13 years old!

He paused, not really sure what to say. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the ration bats he always kept in there, and held it slowly out to her.

"Here," he said, trying to sound as calm and un-intimidating as he could manage through the voice modulator in his helmet. When she made no move to take it, he sighed and levitated it to directly in front of her feet, sensing that him moving towards her physically would only scare her.

"I just want to talk to you, child. I don't want to hurt you. What's your name?"

She timidly picked up the bar at her feet, and opened it, stuffing big chunks of it into her mouth. Ren wished he had another; she was clearly starving.

"Yuri," she said finally, in-between bites.

"Yuri," he repeated. "That's rather pretty." He looked down at his chart. "My papers say that you're here because you stole food from one of our army's bases. Is that true?"

She nodded, hanging her head in shame and fear.

"May I ask _why_?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "It wasn't for me, Sir. Nu-uh. I've got two brothers at home; they're hungry, too. My ma died, and our father left. I--I know it was wrong, taking that food. But I didn't know what else to do."

"Where are your brothers now?"

"A lady in my village said she'd look after them, when they came to arrest me and bring me here," she said quietly.

The man who was there when you were arrested; the man in the black coat, did you tell him why you stole from him?"

She nodded. "I tried to, but he wouldn't listen. He said that my people are all the same, and one less of us wouldn't make a difference in the galaxy."

Now she looked up at him fearfully.

"Sir, I know you're here to kill me. I understand I've done bad. Please, is it okay if I close my eyes, when you kill me? I don't want to look."

Ren could feel his emotions tottering at the girl's words. Thief or not, there was no way she had coming to her the same fate that everybody else on this block had met. 

"I'm going to have you escorted out of here, and returned to your family," Ren told the shaking girl. "Just, in the future, be careful who you steal from, alright?"

The girl was looking at him as if she couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Is this a joke?", she asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"He shook his head. "No. You've committed a crime, yes, but nothing that deserves _this_ ," he said, gesturing around them. "You'll understand, of course, if I have you blindfolded until you're away from this base. Security reasons, you see."

He reached into one of the inner pockets of his robe, and brought out a handful of paper credits, about 200 worth. He leaned over and placed them in her pocket.

"This should help you out some," he said, "Until you can get on your feet."

She felt the papers in her pocket, then looked at him. She suddenly leapt across the space between them and folded Ren into a tight, hard hug.

"Thank you so much, Sir," she said joyfully, kissing his mask. "You have no idea what your mercy means to me--and to my family."

He nodded and patted her tentatively on the back.

"I'll send for a guard to escort you to a ship and away from here," he said, his hand on the Comm Link button. She stopped him, putting her small fingers over his gloved hand.

"Might I ask you one last favor, Sir?"

He nodded.

"Please--might I see your face? So that I know who I'm thanking later, in my dreams?"

Ren paused and thought about it. Deciding there was no harm in it, he slowly unhooked his helmet and pulled it off of his face, holding it in his hands.

She looked at him curiously, cautiously.

And she smiled.

"You don't look at all like I pictured," she said, hugging him again. "You look nice. Human. Like me."

He laughed, and patted her head. "Thank you. I consider that a compliment," he said, pulling the helmet back into place once more.

He motioned for Uaslinn to come back in the room, and explained to him what to do with the girl. The Captain hurried to procure a ship for her escort out, and returned in moments, ready to take off.

"Thank you, thank you, Lord Ren!", she cried, as the Captain gently tied the blindfold around her eyes, and began to lead her out.

"It was nice to meet you, Yuri."

\---

Ren stepped into the Officer's leisure area, glancing around. There were about 10 people in the little room, sitting around tables and drinking cups of caffe. All conversation stopped when he entered the room, and Ren could see the panic leap from one person to the next, like wildfire.

His target was sitting at a corner table by himself, reading things from his datapad.

"Everybody out," Ren said in a calm voice, "Except **you** ," he said as he pointed to Leapold.

Seats immediately scraped back and bodies exited the room in haste. Leapold had stood up cautiously, all the color drained from his face.

"Lord Ren, what can I do for--"

Ren cut him off immediately, using the Force to simultaneously lift him up and stop his oxygen supply. The man dangled helplessly in the air, his hands clawing his throat, panic in his eyes.

Ren dropped him back to the floor after a long while, and he lay there for a few moments, drawing air into his starved lungs.

"That prisoner, AA-2213. The woman. The _girl_ , really. Y ou had her marked for execution, for stealing some food from one of your supply dumps. That doesn't seem a little harsh to you?"

"N-no, my Lord," Leapold said, still trying to catch his breath. "I discussed it with the Supreme Leader, and he agreed with me."

"Agreed with you enough to put the Red Star on her file, to prolong her suffering?"

"Y-yes?"

"Forging a symbol of The Supreme Leader's is a very serious crime, indeed," Ren told him, standing over him. "This prisoner, she was **not** scheduled for torture before her death, and I KNOW Snoke did not put that star there, YOU did. Why?"

The Lieutenant looked up at Ren angrily. "What does it matter!? She was going to die anyway; what difference did it make to you, whether you got to have extra fun with her or not?"

"Fun?", Ren repeated, disgusted. "You feel that what I do is FUN? The torturing of others, and the taking of another life, is no lighthearted matter, Lieutenant. Those who I punish have legitimate reasons FOR that punishment. Stealing two loaves of bread and a canteen of water hardly seems cause for torture, let alone death."

He stretched out his hand towards the man, pulling bits of information from his mind until the man was screaming in agony.

"You doctored up her crimes to be much worse than they actually were, when you showed that list to Snoke. He signed off on it, then you forged a star next to her name. All because she bested you? She tricked you?"

"Lord Ren, let me explain!", the Lieutenant gasped.

"No need for explanation. Gross misuse of power, abuse of one's rank, forging documents, conspiracy to murder. Sounds like a hefty crime list to _me,_ and I've executed people for far less today.

He pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it, holding the tip of the blade to the man's fat neck.

"Do you have any final words?", Ren asked him quietly.

"My Lord! I--"

Ren cut him off, bringing his flaming sword down on the man's neck. His severed head bounced off the floor with a sticky thud, and rolled a few feet, stopping by Ren's boot. He kicked it away in disgust.

He put his saber back on his belt and stepped outside of the room.

"Send somebody go clean up the mess in there," he told the stormtrooper guards standing outside. Then he turned and continued on to his quarters.

\---

"'Lo? Where are you?", Hux called out. Kylo could hear the sound of him shrugging out of his boots and dropping them by the door, then padding across the living room and into the bedroom.

Ren had been home for about an hour, trying to take a nap but unable to fall asleep. Eventually he had settled for pressing his face into the covers and staring at the pattern in the pillowcase.

When he heard Hux come in, he froze.

Ren remained face down on the bed, even when he knew Hux was standing in the doorway and looking at him. He didn't want to face him; he was certain he would have heard by now about how he had killed his Lieutenant.

"What's wrong, Kylo? Are you sick?" Hux asked him softly. He came and sat on the edge of the bed, pressing a hand to Ren's forehead.

"I'm fine," he muttered into the pillow. "Just tired."

"Well, I brought you a present. It just might cheer you up," Hux said with a smile. He laid something next to Kylo's head on the pillow.

Kylo opened his eyes and looked.

A tiny blue-gray kitten looked back at him, mewling softly. It's tiny claws began to knead at the fabric of the pillow.

Ren sat up carefully with a wide smile.

"A kitten? You've got us a kitten?", he asked excitedly.

Hux nodded, unable to suppress his grin at Ren's childlike enthusiasm. "Captain Phasma's cat had kittens a few weeks ago. I would have mentioned it sooner, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I had to wait until it was old enough to take from its mother," he explained.

Ren pulled him down and kissed him, hard. "I've always wanted a cat," Ren said as he pulled away, picking up the baby and cradling it gently in his hand. He stroked its small head and behind its minuscule ears. It latched on to his finger with its paws, nibbling at his finger with its tiny teeth. Ren snickered at the tickling sensation.

"I know. You tried to sneak one in your house when you were 7 but your father couldn't stop sneezing. They thought it was Chewbacca, and he sent him away for a week but the sneezing didn't stop, so your mother deep-cleaned your entire house, got all new furniture, everything. Then she found where you had been hiding the kitten in your closet, and she was furious with you. So you had to get rid of it."

Ren looked up at him. "Maker, you remember that? I told you that story, like, 3 whole years ago."

Hux nodded seriously. "I never forget anything you say. Ever."

He took the kitten from Ren's hand and studied it carefully. "Phasma said it's a girl, but at this age you really can't be too sure. What should we name it?"

"Va--"

"NOT Vader," Hux interrupted him with a shake of his head.

Ren pouted. "Fine. What about -- Armi?"

"Armi?"

"Yes, Armi," Ren said, spelling it for him. "I think that sounds like it could be for a girl or a boy, and this way, its kind of named after you."

"I like that. Okay, Armi.

Now he set the kitten down on the bed and they both watched it scamper around the covers.

"So. How was your day, Kylo? Anything _new_? Anything you'd like to tell me?"

Ren sighed. He could tell from Hux's tone of voice that he knew what had happened with Leapold.

He gave Hux an explanation for his actions, as well as what he had done with the prisoner. When he finished, he looked down at Armi again, trying to mentally prep himself for the yelling he was sure was coming.

Surprisingly, it didn't.

Hux reached out and patted his shoulder. "You did the right thing. With the girl, I mean. With Leapold, well; I'm a bit put-out that now I have to find a replacement for him, but I guess I can't deny that he deserved it."

Ren sighed in relief.

"Thank you for being understanding," he said, kissing Hux's cheek. "I just hope Snoke will be the same way, when I tell him tomorrow."

"I'd stick to just telling him about Leapold, if I were you," Hux advised him. "Let him think you killed the girl like you were supposed to."

Ren nodded.

"And besides, maybe you won't have to be in situations like this for much longer," Hux continued, peeling off his gloves.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been working all day on a proposal for Snoke, that would change the way we treat our prisoners. Less violence, less killings. If successful, it would put you more into the role of a mediator, or a humane prisoner overseer, rather than an executioner. I still have to work out the finer details, and it'll be a while before it's ready to bring to Snoke, but still."

Ren looked at him incredulously.

"You did all that--based on a comment I made this morning?"

"I told you, I listen to _everything_ you have to say."

Ren didn't know what to say, he was so touched.

"I've been noticing for a WHILE, now, how what you do is wearing you down inside," Hux said quietly, taking Ren's hand and kissing his fingertips. "And it worries me. I think it's part of why your back hurts so much, and why you get headaches so often. It's tension, and stress. I need you to stay healthy. Our future family needs you to stay healthy, too. Right, Armi?", he said playfully, glancing at the kitten. It had hopped off the bed and was exploring the floor, its legs sliding clumsily all over the carpet.

"Future family?", Ren asked.

"I would like to have _actual_ kids with you someday, 'Lo. A family. Is--is that something you want, too?"

Ren smiled and kissed Hux again. "I do," he said, reaching out and grabbing Hux's hands. "Someday. Right now, though, I think this is a pretty decent start," he said, gesturing to the kitten which had curled up into a ball in a pile of Ren's socks.

"Agreed."

Hux bent down and picked up the sleeping cat, cuddling it against his chest. "Look at my baby," he cooed, stroking Armi softly.

He looked at Kylo and reached out his other hand, running it through Ren's thick dark locks. "Look at BOTH of my babies."

Ren smiled and playfully made a purring sound. "Well, THIS baby, is hungry. How about I make us some dinner?"

"That sounds like an excellent plan, Lord Ren," Hux replied; and before he could protest Ren had swooped down and scooped him up, cat and all, laughing as he carried his family into the kitchen.


End file.
